


Come All Ye Faithful

by javajunkie



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Romance, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 03:02:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8472937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/javajunkie/pseuds/javajunkie
Summary: Set after Holy Night.  Josh goes to Donna's apartment to give her a Christmas gift.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first The West Wing fic. Hope you enjoy!

Come All Ye Faithful

Josh sat on the front steps of Donna’s apartment, thinking to himself that concrete steps in the middle of a DC winter were a decidedly uncomfortable spot on which to sit. The concrete slab was punishingly cold beneath him, the many layers between his bottom and the step seemingly moot when met with the chilling temperatures.   He probably shouldn’t even be here, sitting outside of his assistant’s apartment. It wasn’t a good idea. Leo had told him as much when he asked when Donna’s flight got in. Feeling bad for ruining the first part of Donna’s weekend with Jack Reese, Leo had showed an unusual bit of pathos, and chartered a helicopter to take Jack and Donna back to DC.   When Josh asked about the arrival time, Leo said, “Whatever you’re thinking of doing Josh, don’t.”

            He’d given some quick retort about wanting to make sure his assistant hadn’t run off with Captain Awesome. Leo reluctantly grumbled that the flight was scheduled to land at seven o’clock, and said, “Don’t make me regret giving you this piece of information.”

            “Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

            “I mean it Josh.”

            “I know. I’ll see you tomorrow, Leo.”

            He didn’t know just what exactly Leo had been alluding to, but he assumed it included after-hours visits to Donna’s apartment. It was all innocent enough. He wanted her to have her Christmas gift. Yes, he could give it to her at the office, but this seemed like a better idea. It’d be just them. No men in uniform or national crises to get in the way.

            A cab pulled to a stop in front of the building and he was struck with the sudden realization that Jack Reese could be climbing out of the yellow vehicle with her. The door closest to the curb swung open and Donna stepped out, looking tired, but happy. She didn’t see him at first, turning back to the cab driver and telling him, “I can get it.”

            The trunk popped open and she reached in, struggling to lift a massive suitcase out of the cavernous space. The street must have been icy beneath her heels, and he watched her stumble slightly as a flurry of swear words left her mouth. Josh smirked, stood up and called out, “You need some help with that?”

            Donna looked over at him in surprise, her suitcase efforts halted for the moment.

            “Josh? What are you doing here?”

            He walked over. “Why do you have such a big suitcase? You were gone for a weekend.”

            “You know I’m a nervous packer,” she said. “Besides, I didn’t know what type of clothes people wear at the Washington Inn. I had to have lots of outfit contingency plans.”

            He reached past her into the trunk and pulled out the suitcase. It was even heavier than it looked, and he exhaled sharply from the effort. The suitcase landed noisily on the street.

            “Careful with that,” Donna said offhandedly. “It’s my only one.”

            “If it’s scuffed I’ll buy you a new one.” He slammed the trunk down and tapped his palm on it once. The cab pulled away down the street.

            “Josh, what are you doing here?”

            “I wanted to give you your Christmas gift,” he said, gesturing back toward the steps where a gift-wrapped parcel rested. “It’s not exactly on Christmas, but close.”

            “You came all the way out here to give me my Christmas gift?”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            She smiled slightly and shook her head. “Okay then. You want to come in, or am I opening it on the front steps?”

            “No, inside is good.”

            She walked past him up the steps and he followed her into the building. Her apartment was a few floors up, and he tried not to think of any other men who made this trek with her. Not that he cared about that. He definitely did not. She stopped in front of her door and rifled through her purse to find her keys. After a few seconds he said, “We can open it in the hallways if that’s easier.”

            “Oh shut up,” she murmured. Her fingers closed around her keys and she pulled them out with a triumphant, “There they are.”

            She opened up the door and Josh found himself in what could only be termed as the most spastically decorated apartment he’d ever seen. He’d been over a few odd times before, but it never was during a holiday. The usually tidy apartment was overstuffed with Christmas cheer.

            “Wow, you’re apartment is really…festive.”

            Donna read immediately into the statement and defensively said, “I like Christmas!”

            “I know,” he said placatingly.

            “You have no right to judge. I’ve seen the Mets shrine in your apartment.”

            “I’m not judging!” he said, laughing a bit at the ferocity with which Donna defended her holiday cheer. “I think it looks great in here. So, how was your romantic weekend?”

            “It was nice,” Donna said, her voice taking on the same dreamy quality that it always did when she talked about Jack. “We had a suite all to ourselves with a private hot tub and steam room.”

            Josh blocked the natural images that flooded his mind after that reveal. He rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Nothing like a good steam, huh?”

            “You have no idea. I could have stayed there forever. I had this wine that was two hundred dollars a bottle. Can you believe that? I thought it tasted just like any other wine, but Jack told me you could really taste the – what’s the word – tanens? I think that’s the word.”

            “I have no idea,” Josh murmured.

            Donna shook her head with a soft grin, “Anyway, it was a perfect weekend.” She seemed to sense his less than ecstatic visage, and quickly added, “Not that putting paper snow men on the press’ seats with you and CJ wouldn’t have been fun.”

            “Well, when put next to your weekend…”

            Donna smirked. “So, can I open my gift now?”    

            “Yes. Open away.”

            “Good,” she said with a quick grin. She carefully pulled the paper away from the tape. Josh was well aware of her deliberate gift opening, but found himself impatient nonetheless.

            “You know, the paper isn’t the gift.”

            “Don’t rush me,” she shot back. “You know that I like to keep the paper neat.”

            “Yes, I do. Do you reuse it or something? Because if you do, I may need to go to Leo on your behalf for a raise.”

            She looked up at him and said, “Really? Then, yes. I reuse it. I also reuse minimally soiled paper napkins.”

            “Please tell me that isn’t true,” he said, imagining her carefully examining her napkin after a meal and slipping it back into the napkin holder.

            “I’m dedicated to the cause,” she returned glibly.

            “Okay, can you just open your gift? I put a lot of thought into this one.”

            She smiled slightly and murmured, “You always do.”

            She returned her attention to the gift and slid off the wrapping paper. It was a standard cardboard box with the flaps on top configured in a way to keep it closed. She ran her finger under the lip of one of the flaps and popped it open. Her fingers skimmed over two plane tickets. Maui.

            “You didn’t,” she said, looking up at Josh with wide eyes.

            “You’ve only been nagging me about it for years,” he returned fondly. “I figure you could take your sister.” He swallowed hard and added, “Or Jack.”

            “This is too much,” she said immediately.

            “No, don’t worry about it. There also are a bunch of your favorite snacks in the box. I know how to get on long plane rides, so…”

            He trailed off and then suddenly her arms were around him. He dipped his head to the crook of her neck for a moment, taking in her familiar scent. She pulled away, eyes wet, and said, “I can’t believe you got me plane tickets to Maui. And snacks for the plane.”

            “So, you like your gift?”

            She grinned, holding the box to her chest. “I love it. Thank you, Josh.”

            “You’re welcome.”

            She turned away from him and put the box down on her coffee table. It occurred to him that the purpose for his visit was over now, and he had no desire to leave. Donna didn’t seem to want that either as she casually asked, “Do you want a drink?”

            “Yeah, sure.”

            She smiled. “Okay, sit down and I’ll get us something. I think I have some Jack Daniels.”

            “That works.”

            “You take it neat, right?”

            He nodded, sitting down on her sofa. He leaned back against a bright red afghan blanket dotted with sewn ornaments. Donna came back a few minutes later with two mugs.

            “Please do not judge. I have no other clean glasses.”

            Josh took the mug from her and read off the side, “River Road Motel. Why do you have a mug from the River Road Motel?”

            Donna paused and then said, “Okay, I’m not proud of this, but a friend and I used to think it was funny to swipe things from motels when we were in high school. River Road had a particularly lax staff in their diner.”

            “Who knew you were such a klepto,” Josh teased.

            “I’m not! It was a phase of my youth. I’m sure you did stupid things when you were young.”

            “Oh yeah. A lot of stupid things. But I never swiped coffee mugs from diners. That is just depraved.”

            “You’re making fun of me,” she deadpanned.

            “Yes, I am.”

            “Drink your whiskey.”

            She settled next to him on the couch and said, “Hey, we’re getting that drink we talked about before.”

            “I think the exact deal was that I get you drunk at the Hawk & Dove.”

            “I like this better,” she said. She pointed toward her bedroom and said, “When I’m done I just stumble over there. Much more convenient.”

            Josh laughed. “I’d say.”

            “We probably shouldn’t drink too much tonight, though. We do have work tomorrow.”

            “I think your boss will let you come in late,” he said.

            “Oh yeah, what about yours?”

            “Leo’s always telling me I need to take a break.”

            She smirked and said, “I don’t think nursing a hangover is what he meant.”

            Josh lifted the mug, examining the logo, and asked, “So, how many others of these do you have? Is your cabinet just filled with lifted kitchen ware?”

            “No,” she returned. “I donated most of it because I felt bad. But that mug was always my favorite. It’s the perfect shape.”

            “I didn’t know there was a such thing as a perfect mug shape.”

            “Well, now you know.”

            “Hey, I never asked you what Jack got you for Christmas,” Josh asked after a second. It felt like a polite thing to ask. He also was fairly certain it’d pale in comparison to tickets to Maui. Donna was mid-sip, and she coughed a bit as his question and said, “Oh, um, nothing much.”

            “Nothing much?” Josh returned. “Don’t tell me he didn’t get you anything.”

            “No, he did. He…” she trailed off and played with her necklace. He followed the movement of her fingers and then noticed that he hadn’t seen that necklace before. Usually, if she wore anything it was a simple gold chain. This was a heart pendant, studded with what looked like diamonds.

            “Your necklace,” he finished. “It’s nice.”

            Of course Jack Reese would get her jewelry. Jack Reese took her on romantic weekend vacations with his saber and thirteen button trousers. Maui suddenly didn’t seem that nice anymore. He drained his mug of whiskey.

            “There’s more in the kitchen,” Donna told him.

            He got up and refilled his mug. He brought the bottle back with him and topped off hers. She gave him a look and he said, “Most of the agenda is on hold until after January 1.”

            “Most. Not all.”

            “The rest can wait until mid-morning.”

            “Josh.”

            “Donna.”

            “I will not be responsible for your hangover tomorrow.”

            “Fine, we’ll call it a night after we finish this drink.”

 

* * *

 

 

            Donna’s couch was Josh’s new favorite place to drink. He didn’t know why he hadn’t drank there earlier. The couch was the perfect level of cushy and the ornament afghan made a remarkably good headrest. The couch also came with Donna, which was a definite benefit. She put her feet up on the coffee table after her second mug of whiskey, and then on his lap after the third. He knew they were hurtling dangerously toward some line they weren’t supposed to cross, but he didn’t care. He said something not particularly funny and she doubled over with laughter, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. They switched to beer in their mugs at some point, and some spilled over onto his pants from her sudden movement.

            “Oh no,” she said, dabbing ineffectually at it with the hem of her shirt. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

            “I never liked these pants much anyway.”

            She snorted, her hand now resting heavily on his leg. He didn’t know if she had any idea what she was doing, but he was acutely aware of the heat from her palm. She looked up at him through her lashes, and yes, she knew. They both knew now, and it scared the crap out of him. She took her hand of his leg and braced it on his chest as she leaned in.

            “No,” he said, surprising both of them.

            “What?”

            “No, I can’t. Not like this.”

            It was out of his mouth before he knew it. Her eyes widened, and he went through every swear word he knew in his head. He said it. Out loud. He said what he’d been denying – hell, what he didn’t really even realize – for years. Fuck.

            “What do you mean not like this?” Donna asked.

            “Nothing. I didn’t mean anything. It’s just something I said.”

            “No, you don’t get to use that again.”

            They’d been too drunk before, and now they were all too sober.

            “Donna-“

            “Why did you say not like this?”

            Josh took a shaky breath and said, “You know why.”

            “No, I don’t. Tell me.”

            “Donna-“

            “I want to hear you say it,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Just once, I want you to say it.”

            He wanted to say it. He’d never wanted to say anything more. He wanted to tell her that the best day of his life was when she showed up at his cubicle and hired herself as his assistant. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. God, he loved her. And he was sorry for not realizing it sooner. That it took some Commander Lieutenant with a sharp uniform and Kennedy jaw to kick any sense into him.

            Instead, he put the River Road mug on the coffee table and said, “I should head home.”

            His words didn’t seem to register for a moment, but then she was nodding, moving her head so rapidly that she looked like a bobble head.

            “Do you want to call a cab?” she asked. “I can-I’m sure I have a number somewhere here.”

            “I’ll walk until I find one,” he said. “I could use the fresh air.”

            “Okay.”

            He stood up and pulled his coat on. She didn’t speak, but he could hear her moving behind him. He looked back and caught sight of her disappearing into the kitchen with their mugs. When she came back she said, “Thank you for my gift.”

            “You deserve it. I’m sorry it took me four years.”

            “Better late than never.”

            There was more to his words. More to hers, too. He had to get out of here before he said something else he’d regret. He went to leave, but then stopped. There was one more thing he had to say, although he had no right to say it.

            “Don’t take Jack to Maui. You can take some other Republican gomer, just…don’t take Jack.”

            “Josh, you can’t-“

            “I know.”

            “It’s not –“

            “I _know_.”

            She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

            He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

           

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to know your thoughts!


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